In modern day society we consistently use social media. We are asked the question: is social media good or bad? Well obviously social media is useful, we use it everyday. We use it to call and text our friends and family, to learn new information online, to make new friends, and for some source of entertainment. The problem with social media is the amount of time we spend on using it because, the average teenager spends about 4.8 hours a day on social media! So we should be researching the effects of social media. Some social media platforms track user data and activities. Some platforms use API (Application Programming Interface) to track your search history, your location, and other personal information.Our medical history, name, height, age, address, and our connections to other people are all online. If you post something on social media, someone can track your location just by the background and caption of the picture. Social media affects people’s mental health, because it is easy to make friends online, but just as easy as it is to make friends on social media you can get bullied. About 30% of teens have been victims of cyberbullying. This can really hurt someone, and many kids have a hard time with this. Some people can also get jealous and hurt. When someone posts something on social media, it could be fake. That person could photoshop and make up lies about what they are. About 40% of girls have had eating disorders and body dysmorphia because of social media. Everyone knows the line “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet”. This is true especially on social media because there is no filtration system. There have been some crazy rumors on social media. Some people could make up stuff and others may actually believe, especially the younger generation. They are being fed lies on social media. Users can overcome these lies by a bit of research and common sense. Social media can be used for good as well by meeting new people. There are dating sites, friend sites, and many interactive sites for people. You can find your best friend or soulmate on a dating site. If you hang out with a group of people, you could create a group chat and talk to these friends after you meet with them. This could let your friendship grow. This could also break your friendship. People tend to be meaner online because they don’t know the person. My personal usage of social media is ok, I have an average screen time of 2 hours. I don’t have too many social media apps on my phone. I don’t talk to people I don’t know and, if I get random text messages from numbers I don’t recognize, I block that number. Overall social media is good for you if you use it right. If you text and snap your friends, you don’t spend too much time on apps like tik tok and instagram, and you don’t text or talk to random numbers you will have a good experience on social media. If you spend too much time, talk to random numbers and people, and put too much information about you online you will develop anxiety and depression.
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